World’s First Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise
New research may help cut the death toll from two of malaria’s most deadly forms.
Hundreds of thousands of young children a year are killed by placental malaria and cerebral malaria.
The world’s first experimental vaccine was tested, and it has been 50 percent effective in preventing the deadly disease in Africa, the scientists said on Monday. Larger and longer test are expected to begin early next year.
The vaccine was developed by the British-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC. If everything goes as smoothly as it has so far, marketing approval could be sought as early as 2011.
The results "add to our confidence that we are closer than ever before" to a malaria vaccine for African children, Christian Loucq, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, said at a news conference.
The group was established to help develop malaria vaccines and make sure they’re available where needed. PATH teamed up with GlaxoSmithKline, and both paid for the vaccine.Â
On Monday, the findings were reported at a meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine, and will be in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.Â
Malaria is a disease that kills 1 million people each year, mostly children from sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is caused by a parasite that spreads from a bite of an infected mosquito. Once bitten, the parasite travels quickly to the liver, where it matures, then enters the bloodstream to cause fever, chills, flu-like symptoms and anemia.
The vaccine is designed to attack the parasite before it infects the liver.
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